Small Company Learns Lessons Of Success From Donald Trump's Apprentice Series

By Wayne PerryPosted Monday, October 4, 2004

(EMAILWIRE.COM, September 30, 2004) Altamont, NY -- When the first season of NBC's hit reality tv show “The Apprentice” began last year, a little known company called “SiCap Industries (www.sinusbuster.com) was just starting to market their revolutionary product known as Sinus Buster,” the world’s first hot pepper nasal spray touted to relieve a host of chronic sinus and headache symptoms. Less than one year later, Sinus Buster nasal spray is already being called a breakthrough by doctors and patients alike. In fact, SiCap Industries has experienced a rate of success rarely seen in “start up” companies from any industry – especially the natural dietary supplement market.

SiCap’s flagship product has become a media darling of sorts being featured on national television, radio, and in print. The big break came when Sinus Buster was profiled in The Wall Street Journal as a product to watch, and the company’s president credits a good part of this marketing success to the teachings of Donald Trump as witnessed through his management style on the hit reality television series, “The Apprentice”.

“I know it sounds a little crazy, but I’ve learned lots of business lessons from watching the Apprentice. Say what you want about Trump, but that guy knows how to read people, and that’s the key to making a business work because in the end you’ve got to trust your people. That’s what’s you see in George Ross and Carolyn Kepcher…..Trump’s right hand team on the show. He trusts them, but Trump also trusts his gut even more. He’s a complex person, but he’s the real deal and I take his lessons to heart. I think the lessons I’ve learned watching the Apprentice have really helped me run this company. I often find myself thinking what would Trump do in a situation,” says Wayne Perry, inventor of Sinus Buster, and president of SiCap Industries.

And if Perry’s been taking cues from Donald Trump, the lessons appear to be working. SiCap Industries started in Perry’s basement last fall when he first began marketing his unique pepper nasal spray on Ebay of all places. During that period, Perry says he started watching “The Apprentice” on NBC, and he strongly credits the show with his company’s stunning success.

George Ross, the Donald’s right hand man, says he wasn’t aware of SiCap’s claims, but he believes the show is a must for any small business searching for guidance. He goes on to say working for Donald Trump is “A blast,” and any company willing to take cues from Trump’s hit show is a “smart company”.

“Anyone can learn a lot from the show. It’s all about being under the gun – deadlines…pressure. Anybody that’s in business or wants to be in business could benefit from watching the Apprentice,” says Ross.

Ross also thinks there may be potential for “Trump brand” products launched via the Apprentice, but he approaches this notion with caution.

“There’s a possibility that Trump bottled water may go national. As far as the ice cream, that was totally a Ciao Bella project, but there may be potential for Trump ice cream in the future. We’ll have to see,” adds Ross.

Wayne Perry of SiCap Industries believes Trump could turn any worthwhile product into a mainstream winner by using the Apprentice show as a launching pad as long as “The Donald” sticks to his longtime philosophy of only using the Trump name in conjunction with world class quality.

“As Donald says, any product with the Trump name prides itself on being the world’s best. Trump is a man who believes in his products whether it’s real estate or bottled water, and he approaches every venture with guns blazing. Believe me that’s at least half the battle in marketing at any level. The other important thing Trump has is great gut instinct, and he uses it. He may trust his people, but he definitely has his own mind, and that’s something we both share,” says Perry.

Perry’s referring to the recent incident in this season’s Apprentice when contestant, Bradford Cohen gave up his “immunity” from being fired. “Bossman” Trump had considered Cohen to be one of the best contestants until he made that fateful blunder. Even Trump’s right hand managers had suggested other contestants be fired, but Trump went against everyone and fired Cohen – a move that shocked everyone on the show.

“Donald Trump isn’t afraid to go against the grain. He thinks with his head, but he also considers his gut which is also a huge part of analytical thinking. And I agreed with his decision to fire Brad. It’s exactly what I would’ve done because the guy took a worthless and unnecessary gamble with everything he had. A very friggin stupid move if you ask me, and I knew Trump was going to fire him the second he gave up his immunity,” boasts Perry.

Perry defends Trump as being “unfairly criticized for having a Clyde Barnum mentality”, and he points out that “to underestimate Trump’s mainstream business savvy would be huge blunder – especially if you were to do business with the man”. There’s no doubt Trump’s “marketing hootzpa” is a large part of his success, but his reputation for knowing how to pick a winning project is perhaps his best asset according to Perry.

“Trump’s winning projects would be nothing without his winning marketing strategies. The Donald likes to do things big, and so do we. We may not have as much money as the Trump Organization, but we get the same effect with our low budget guerilla marketing tactics. Luckily our product is truly the best in its’ market, and that accounts for 90% of our success. Of course as the Donald would tell you, if you don’t truly believe in your product and all you want is to make some sales, I guarantee your product (whatever it may be), won’t live very long. It’s all about brand recognition and quality – two things the Donald focuses on in all his companies,” says Perry.

When asked to site a specific incident where Mr. Trump’s knowledge paid off, Perry pointed to the recent Sinus Buster coverage in The Wall Street Journal.

“We were already selling thousands of Sinus Busters over the internet, but we really wanted to get our product and our company noticed by venture capitalists, ya know – real investors. So I thought to myself, how would Donald get a company noticed by world class investors with pretty much no budget. Now keep in mind this company may not have a budget, but it’s got an incredible product and an incredible reputation. Right away I knew Trump would say let’s get it featured in the Wall Street Journal. Whether that’s what he really would’ve said or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that I believed it, and I made it happen. We already had some interest from the journal, but they weren’t going to run the story anytime in the near future until our company had more of a record, but we got them to try our samples and listen to what the doctors had to say. And before you know it we were in there. Believe me, when the Wall Street Journal recognizes you, it means the world to any company because just like the Trump Organization, the journal is world class,” Perry explains.

Perry’s “never give up” attitude is what originally landed him on the Oprah Winfrey Show in the mid 1990s, which actually led to him discovering the Sinus Buster formula quite by accident. Perry was a nationally recognized self defense instructor who taught Oprah Winfrey how to use self defense pepper spray to fend off attackers.

After Perry announced on the show that he was willing to be sprayed with real pepper spray for live demonstrations, he was barraged by tv stations and police groups around the country with requests. Officially, Perry says he’s been sprayed with defensive pepper spray more than fifty times, but it was one time in particular that he discovered the medicinal power of hot peppers.

“I had severe chronic cluster headaches and major sinus problems for like 20 years, and one day while I was doing a live pepper spray demonstration for Fox News in Albany, New York, I got one of my headaches. I’d been tested by every doctor and I was on all kinds of drugs, but nothing ever worked and these headaches were debilitating. Well I started getting a cluster attack right before this news thing I was doing, so I couldn’t back out. I went ahead and let the reporter spray me. I was already used to the pain of being sprayed, but this time it was different. My headache disappeared instantly. I never had anything work like this. And my chronic congestion was gone too. I felt like it was a miracle, and I knew the secret was in the Capsicum – the natural pepper extract used in defensive pepper sprays. And that’s when the Sinus Buster was first born,” exclaims Perry.

Today, Perry’s Sinus Buster formula is used by more than 20,000 people who claim this product has changed their lives. Doctors, clinical researchers, and the media have all started discovering Sinus Buster hot pepper nasal spray because it’s truly a unique breakthrough. This simple all natural product started as merely a headache remedy, but today it’s recognized as something of a “cure all” for ailments of the sinus and head.

It turns out Perry’s Sinus Buster also relieves many other chronic headache syndromes including migraines, menstrual, and hangovers. Furthermore, this hot pepper nasal spray is credited with relieving a multitude of chronic sinus conditions (bacterial, viral, and allergen) related.

Dr. Gary Spector of Milford, Connecticut is an internal medicine specialist who views Sinus Buster as the “real deal”. Dr. Spector had first read about Sinus Buster nasal spray in the Wall Street Journal, and when he noticed the company offered free samples for physicians and media, the doctor contacted SiCap Industries immediately. Dr. Spector was so impressed with Sinus Buster, he actually called SiCap Industries and offered a personal testimonial.

“I’ve been using the Sinus Buster myself, and I’ve given it to a few select patients, and I’ve just got to say it’s an incredible product. It’s really unbelievable how well it works. I’m very reluctant as are all physicians to offer any OTC medications to my patients, and to offer an herbal product is unheard of, but this is just too beneficial to my patients – so I have to recommend the Sinus Buster when a patient’s condition calls for it,” Dr. Spector explains.

The product may be incredible, but the fast success of SiCap Industries is directly related to the company’s management style. Just as Wayne Perry fought to get on the Oprah show, and in the pages of The Wall Street Journal, Donald Trump has fought to win in business.

During the early 1990’s, just as Wayne Perry was first working his way onto the national talk show scene, Donald Trump had been completely written off by the media as a “has been”. After all, they claimed he was over $975 million in debt and nearly bankrupt. Everyone said he would never bounce back since his company was so far in debt. The New York Post even ran a cartoon showing a down-and-out-Donald panhandling. Of course now it turns out the media was dead wrong, and once again “The Donald” is a media darling.

As SiCap’s president, Wayne Perry says, “He’s stronger, richer, and wiser than he ever was before. Hopefully the Sinus Buster and SiCap Industries will reach the same pinnacle very soon”.

Recently, Forbes magazine estimated Donald net worth to be about $1.4 billion, but Trump says it’s more like $3.7 billion, and by following the lessons of “The Donald,” SiCap Industries is aiming for the billion mark also.

If you want to learn more about “The Apprentice Show,” go to the official website at (http://www.nbc.com).

To learn more about SiCap industries and the world famous “Sinus Buster” nasal spray, visit the company website at (http://www.sinusbuster.com). Media kits and free samples are available for qualified medical and media personnel.